Teenage obesity as fatal as smoking

London: Being obese as a teenager carries the same risk of premature death as smoking 10 cigarettes a day, researchers have found.

The number of early deaths in people who smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day but were a healthy weight was the same as non-smokers who were obese.

Smoking between one and 10 cigarettes a day produced a similar risk to being overweight but not obese, according to the research published in the British Medical Journal.

The highest risk was among people who were both obese and smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day - they were five times more likely to die early than non-smokers of a healthy weight.

The study was carried out on 45,000 men in Sweden who were conscripted for military service at age 16 to 19 when their body mass index and smoking habits were noted. They were followed up for an average of 38 years and during that time 2,897 of them died.

The risk of being overweight as a teenager increased the risk of dying in that time by just over a third, while being obese doubled the risk. The pattern was the same for cigarette smoking, with the risk of dying increasing with more intensive smoking. Smoking more than 10 a day doubled the risk of dying.

Being seriously underweight also increased the risk of dying early. Dr Martin Neovius at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, who carried out the study, wrote: "The excess risk conferred by obesity in late adolescence was of similar magnitude as smoking about 10 cigarettes/day, and the risk associated with overweight was similar to that of 1-10 a day.

"In summary, we found that overweight and obesity in late adolescence is associated with premature death, regardless of smoking status.

"Obesity and overweight were as hazardous as heavy and light smoking, respectively, and there was no interaction between smoking and obesity status.

"The findings indicate that from a mortality perspective targets for young men should be within the non-smoking, normal weight range, and that overweight, obesity, and smoking among adolescents might be good targets for intensified public health initiatives."